Pope Benedict pardons his butler

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday granted a Christmas pardon to his former butler
Paolo Gabriele, convicted by a Vatican tribunal in October for leaking
secret papal papers.

The Vatican's ex-bulter Paolo Gabriele meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican City prison on 22 December 2012Photo: AFP

By Andrea Vogt, Bologna

12:33PM GMT 22 Dec 2012

In a Vatican statement, church officials said Mr Gabriele had been freed from the police barracks inside the Vatican City where he has been serving his sentence of 18 months on aggravated theft charges.

However, he will not be able to return to his post in the Vatican and will have to seek employment and housing elsewhere.

He was released after a personal 15-minute visit from the Pope, who had wanted to communicate the pardon himself.

"This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison in order to confirm his forgiveness and to inform him personally of his acceptance of Mr Gabriele's request for pardon," the Vatican said in a statement.

Mr Gabriele began working as the pope’s butler in 2006. He served the pope meals and helped him dress and was one of just a handful of people with privileged access to the papal apartments.

Over six years he managed to photocopy and confiscate more than 1000 sensitive documents while working in a small office adjacent to the pope’s apartment, in one of the most embarrassing breaches of Vatican security ever.

He later told the court he leaked the sensitive documents to a journalist in order expose corruption he thought was harmful to the church.

A number of Vatican observers, however, theorise that it is unlikely Mr Gabriele was a “lone wolf” who acted alone, but rather may have been pushed to take the blame in order to prevent other powerful figures inside the Holy See from being drawn into the scandal.

Speaking before a small group of journalists gathered on Saturday, Vatican Spokesman Federico Lombardi called the development good news brought closure to a “sad affair,” and that would hopefully allow an “atmosphere of serenity” to prevail.